Sarnia dentist ‘gutted’ by regulator’s sexual abuse of patient allegation

A Sarnia dentist fighting allegations of sexual abuse of a patient by his professions’ regulator has admitted to having a brief romantic relationship with a woman, but two years before she was his patient.

Among the 18 allegations levied by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario’s discipline committee, two of them claim Kevin Bacchus had sexual relationships with patients in 2002 or 2003 and 2017. Patients cannot give their consent to health professionals under provincial legislation, making any sort of sexual relationship, touching, remarks or suggestive behavior between a dentist and a patient sexual abuse.

As a months-long hearing continued Tuesday in front of the committee, Bacchus, who could be heading to prison next month for repeatedly stabbing a former patient in his driveway amid accusations of infidelity, tested about the college’s claim from the early 2000s. The 51-year-old second-generation dentist, who practices in Sarnia and Wallaceburg, said he did have a sexual relationship with a woman for a few months in early 2003.

But records show she wasn’t a patient of his until 2005, he said. Bacchus said the woman is not a liar, but added he was 100-per-cent sure about the timeline.

Bacchus, who has been emotional at times while testifying during the past two days, went on to say, of all the allegations the college has laid against him, after five separate investigations, and to which he’s pleaded not guilty, this was the most upsetting .

“This was the one thing that really, really hurt me,” he said. “It gutted me.”

Bacchus previously tested the two allegations of sexual abuse of a patient, and not his unrelated criminal convictions, were the main reasons he sold his practices three months ago.

“I didn’t have a choice,” he said.

Bacchus was charged in October 2019 with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. He was convicted of both charges in September following a five-day trial and is expected to be sentenced on the first charge in April.

But that wasn’t the main reason he sold his practices in December. Bacchus said the allegations of sexual abuse of a patient are publicly available on the college’s website and they made it hard to hire staff and were affecting his colleagues.

“You’re done,” he said of the allegations being ugly. “It’s not a good thing.”

The college also claims Bacchus failed to maintain professional boundaries by giving an employee a massage in 2013, something he’s denied doing.

During cross-examination Tuesday afternoon, college lawyer Linda Rothstein asked him if he thought the staffing issues were related to his criminal convictions as opposed to the college’s allegations.

“I don’t,” he said.

Bacchus’s license has not been affected and he’s working at his recently-sold practices until May, when he will take some time off, he said. But he wants to keep his license and still hopes to perform certain procedures occasionally.

Earlier Tuesday, Bacchus and his lawyer, Jasmine Ghosn, shifted their focus to another investigation responsible for half the 18 allegations. They include:

As Ghosn went over the various allegations, Bacchus denied any wrongdoing and offered explanations for what happened in many situations including that he was following guidelines in place at the time, that investigators misidentified two different patients and not having access to his charts but doing procedures properly even if he didn’t document certain steps.

He pointed out in nearly 28 years he’s never had a patient come back with concerns about the procedures he’s done.

“Never,” he tested. “Not once.”

Late in Tuesday’s hearing, Rothstein went over previous college investigations involving Bacchus’s record keeping and billing practices that weren’t referred to the discipline committee, but did end with stern warnings, educational courses and his practices being monitored.

The hearing will continue Wednesday before being adjourned to later this month. The five investigations are being heard together by the discipline committee in an ongoing hearing that started last fall and is continuing this week with three more sessions. The college called its evidence previously and this week it’s Ghosn’s turn.

If a dentist is found guilty of allegations by the discipline committee, penalties can include remediation, restrictions, suspensions, revoking licenses, fines up to $35,000, or any combination of those punishments.

Bacchus previously was found guilty, in late 2013, on five college charges and was fined $5,000, suspended six months, reprimanded, had to take courses and had his practice monitored for two years.

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@ObserverTerry